The Muse
by risikamoon
Summary: Everyone deserves to be loved. What if someone else was in the background and could help out. Meant as a side-along-read, as in, watch the episodes and read my story at the same time. Basically everything still happens, just from a different perspective than from the TRIO. Hope you like. It's completed, just need to put online. This is a DukexOC story.
1. Prologue

My name is Fae Navaeh Haven and I'm troubled. My trouble involves music. I can control it but only because my trouble doesn't go away when everyone else's does. Every generation of my family has some who awaken and some who don't, and those that awaken, their trouble never goes away. My mother died when I was a teen and I had been raised by my Grandmother ever since. She's the one who taught be how to control my trouble. My trouble is to control music, my soul is music, and when I focus I can project that music for others to hear. Over the years since my mother's death I have gained far more control over it than my Grandmother ever imagined. Her trouble is the same as mine but neither as powerful nor as controlled.

There's a tradition in our family that at least one of the awakened must go back to our namesake and live there for a year or two. I'm the oldest cousin so the tradition falls on me to complete. In the past I would have moved into our estate house but about 30 years ago, a meteor fell from the sky and crushed it. This migration I decided that I would just rent a house while I was there.

I moved to Haven, Maine in the fall. I had no idea what would happen while I was there and no idea what to expect.


	2. Who, What, Where, Wendigo?

I had moved into my new place in Haven 2 weeks ago. It had taken a while to find a house I liked and then I had to move in all my things from Virginia. Now, 2 weeks later, I was taking a hike through the woods. These used to be estate grounds but after my family disappeared 30 years ago, the state claimed them as a park. While I had been in town, I'd asked what the danger was around here for hikers and learned that no one left house without at least one shotgun. I didn't really think that I would run into anything but better to be safe than sorry. On my hips were 2 gun holsters, one for each leg. My Grandmother often referred to them as "hand cannons" because I loaded them with hollow point rounds most often. These guns held 15 in the clip and one in the chamber. But I really hoped I wouldn't have to use them. I didn't like violence.

As I was walking I caught sight of a group of hunters. They were strange looking. One looked like a modern pirate and another struck me as a preacher, he wasn't dressed in the traditional black robe but he had a "fire and brimstone" look about him. Each of the 5 people in the group had either a shotgun or a rifle in hand. I hadn't yet met anyone in town so I kept my distance from the group. I made to continue past them at a distance but they went in my same direction. Before they could catch up to me, they came upon a seemingly separate hunting group. I snuck closer to listen.

"Play nice boys, I could take out two of you before anyone gets off a shot." A blonde woman spoke.

"You all just committed a felony." A tight jawed man.

"Protecting one of our own Nathan. You should understand that." The preacher look-a-like said to the tight jawed man. Apparently his name was Nathan.

"What are you doing here? And what the hell are you doing with the Rev?" Nathan asked the pirate. Apparently I was right about that guy being a preacher or something.

"Just some concerned citizens trying to protect our town." I saw through that lie even though I didn't know anything about him. It just seemed too staged to be true.

"Trying to find that boy, and the killer who took him." The Reverend. Killer? What the hell? This is a man hunt?

"Killer's dead. You have no idea what we're dealing with. And you've got no authority to be here." Nathan to the Reverend.

"We know how to hunt down evil. And we know, what to do, when we find it. Unlike you. Why don't you ask the boy's father if he wants us to leave?" Reverend. Clearly there was some hostility in this group. Nathan looked even more displeased after the father responded.

"We need the numbers." The father and most of the group walked away, but the pirate, Nathan and the blonde chick stayed behind.

"What are you-insane?" Nathan to the pirate.

"Insane is doing the same over and over again when it gets you nowhere."

"So you make a date with the Rev? Is this just about Evi?" Seems like blondie is staying out of this conversation.

"Evi's dead, and for the first time I am seeing things clearly. Now stay out of my way."

Then the pirate left. I let blondie and Nathan slip by before leaving my hiding spot. I debated leaving but curiosity already had me, so I tailed them all at a distance until blood-curdling screeches started in the distance. I hurried to try to catch up to blondie, I had a feeling she wouldn't shoot me on sight. I didn't reach her until after nightfall.

The whole group was camped at a lake edge although there were clearly two groups. I was about to approach blondie when the pirate and her got into a heated discussion. I just barely hit in the bushed nearby when the screeches came again. Most of the party went into the woods, but two older men stayed behind that I hadn't seen before. I decided to take my chances with them.

Instinctively I was nervous but forced myself calm and used my trouble to play a soft, gentle melody through the air. I hoped it would calm their nerves like it was calming mine. I took a breath and stepped out of the bushes to their left.

"Hi. Um, I'm new here. Is that screeching thing normal?" Immediately their guns were pointed at me. I raised the volume of the music in panic.

"Who are you?"

"Fae."

"And your last name?"

"Haven." A look of realization dawned on both of their faces.

"Is this melody your doing?"

"Yup. I'm going to stop it now though. Cool?"

"You have that much control?"

"In my family, the trouble doesn't disappear. I've had time."

"What are you doing out here?"

"I was exploring. Doesn't seem that safe anymore though. I was thinking about joining up for the night but I don't trust this many edgy people with guns that I don't know. Instead I think I will go camp out in the treetops tonight." Before they could say anything, I backed myself into the darkness of the forest once more, just as sounds of people returning to camp could be heard.

"Anything happen while we were gone?" Blondie asked the two old guys.

"They shared a look but shrugged it off and said that nothing had happened. The following morning the two groups left in the same direction, Blondie's team was leading. About 30 feet behind her team was the pirate's team and about 30 feet behind them was me. At a ranger cabin, the pirate's team veered off in one direction while Blondie's team took another. Again the two old men were left behind. From the conversation I had overhead I needed to clarify some things.

"So this thing you're hunting is a girl?" I asked as I stepped out of the woods. They startled.

"Oh, it's you."

"We don't want to hunt her. We want to save her."

"Save her?"

"The Rev."

"He'll kill her."

"Gotcha. And I guess killing him isn't a good option?"

"Not really no."

"He has very loyal followers."

"More like rabid dogs."

"But they back off when he tells them too."

"What do you think would happen if he was shot today?"

"Nothing good."

"It would probably start the war we've been trying to avoid."

"War? What the hell did I get myself into…? Right anyway, I'm going to continue tailing your people. See you later, I'm sure." Then I took after Blondie and her team. Halfway out they double back, leading was a teenage girl. I only just managed to not be seen by them. Of course it helped that they were very focused on finding someone who was not me.

They were running and not paying attention to how much noise they made so I ran just behind them. I noticed that another member was missing but was more interested in finding this monster-girl. Suddenly the girl leading stopped.

"Amelia!" She screamed. The Reverend had a knife in his hand and was about to stab the girl. Without thinking I pulled my gun out it's holster and in one swift motion shot the Reverend in the shoulder. Because they were hollow point rounds the force took a large chunk out of his shoulder and sent him back against the tree just behind him. The girl, Amelia, bolted to what appeared to be her sister's arms. It was quiet for a moment as everyone tried to find the shooter. Finally they turned to me.

"Who the hell are you?" The Reverend.

"Hi. I'm Fae Navaeh."

"Where did you come from?" Nathan asked me this time.

"Technically? Right behind you. You should really work on that. Literally? Northern Virginia. Just moved here a couple weeks back."

"How long have you been following us?" Blondie this time.

"Since yesterday. I was out exploring and decided to tail you. Was going to come say hi when you set up camp but there were a LOT of nervous, edgy people holding guns." And then the pirate's team arrived.

"Amelia!"

"No no son, don't move."

"Who did this?" The Rev focused his gaze on me.

"Howdy."

"What happened here?" Pirate.

"I shot him. He was going to kill that girl."

"So what? She's a monster, he's a man of God." A different cronie spoke.

"Men of God are not the exception to the rules they preach. They are the example. If he can't follow his own rules about murder then he does not deserve the title and everyone should be ashamed of his deplorable behavior. Besides, what's the big deal? I shot him in the shoulder, it's not like I killed him."

The way out of the woods was surprisingly short. As we walked I received a call from my Grandmother. Imagine her shock when I told her I had just shot a Reverend because he was about to kill a teenage girl. I quickly moved on to details about the move but tried to stay vague, I didn't want anyone knowing my family had a history in this town.

The Reverend was arrested under charges of attempted murder and taken down to the station in a squad car that everyone waited for. Once he was driven away people split off into their own little groups to discuss what had happened. I used that time to make my escape but because I had not entered the woods from this point I had to backtrack quite a distance to make it back to where I had left my motorcycle. When I made it to my house I collapsed happily into my bed which I'm sure cost entirely too much.


	3. Business as Usual

One month later. You would think that gossip would have moved past the arrest of the Rev by now, but it hadn't. This was extra annoying for me because it had spread like wildfire that I was at fault for stopping him from killing a monster. Apparently none of his followers cared that the "monster" was a teenage girl.

I found out Blondie and pirate were named Audrey and Duke respectively. I had also started talking to Audrey and Nathan after the arrest – they cornered me on the street one day in the week following. I had told them my trouble but not necessarily how much control I had, only that it wouldn't cause them any issues. Nathan told me that he was troubled as well, said he couldn't feel anything. I remember asking him how he could function, like if you can't feel the steering wheel, how do you know that you are actually turning it. He didn't have a good response to that. Surprisingly Audrey does not have a trouble. In fact she seems to be immune, except she isn't immune to mine so far.

They were also dealing with backlash from the Reverend's arrest. In the beginning I had felt a little bad for them but after talking to Vince and Dave, the two old guys from the woods, they assured me that this was the best possible outcome short of never having had the Reverend in the woods in the first place. For a month I tried to see the guys at least twice a week to talk about the history of the town. Although they had been unwilling to share at first, I finally managed to get them on my side. I admit, I had to throw my family name around – the same family name that I hadn't shared with anyone else – I technically owned a lot of the land in the town, including the land that the Haven Herald was on top of. I made them promise not to spill my family name to anyone, I wanted to just be a newcomer to Haven, not a resident heir. I didn't want anyone to seek me out to be a connection.

Duke Crocker, the resident pirate and all-around bad boy. He owned a restaurant and bar, The Grey Gull, close to the house that I was renting. Out of boredom mostly, I pursued a job at the Gull, just to keep busy. Three weeks ago I was hired as a waitress. One week ago I was promoted to live entertainment when his planned band quit without warning and when the people started to riot I used my trouble to play music in the background that I then sang to. Just yesterday I had finally managed to compromise with the man about payment for my services. I finally convinced him to keep me on as a waitress and pay me the minimum, but to let the guests tip me when I sang and that I would take nothing else. It was in his benefit when just last night I managed to leave with over $150 in tips, which would be a little more than a lone singer could hope for normally.

The day after Crocker found his father's armory in a box, I was working a morning shift at the Gull. There weren't many people but it was the lunch shift so I sang lightly while I bussed tables. Duke, Audrey and Nathan were at the bar. Suddenly I heard a scream, although when I looked around, no one seemed to have noticed it. When I heard another I bolted to the door and looked around for the cause. As I looked toward the little wharf that docked Crocker's boat, I just managed to catch sight of a child's head disappear into the water. I had just enough focus to drop my cell phone on the wharf before I jumped into the water.

Later I remembered being only vaguely aware that the music had stopped. I swam as hard as I could to the spot where I had seen the child disappear but diving down. There were three small sharks circling the child as she struggled to not drown. Suddenly one of the sharks turned on my so I punched it, this seemed to startle the others which gave me a chance to grab the girl and swim back to the surface. When I got back to the wharf there was a small crowd of patrons as well as Haven's Trio. Nathan and Audrey took the girl from me but as I attempted to get out of the water, I was pulled back under. A shark had latched itself onto my leg while the others came in for round two. I was about to punch them both but I ran out of air and in an act of last minute desperation I did something I didn't know that I could: I sent a sound wave through the water and dazed all three sharks although the one was still attached. When I got to the surface I was heaved out of the water by someone – I later found out it was Duke – before I promptly fainted. When I woke up 10 minutes later, an ambulance had been called for the girl and I, and a bullet had killed the shark that was still attached to my leg. I had been moved to a lawn sofa out in front of the restaurant while unconscious, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to walk on my own to check on the girl so I picked up a coaster and threw it at the front door. The Haven Trio promptly responded and sat with me.

"How is she?" I asked while we waited for the ambulances to arrive.

"She's fine. Sleeping." Nathan.

"What about you?" Audrey.

"Eh. Hand me a knife I'll be fine, once I cut this sucker off." Me. They all glared at me.

"Don't even think about it. You're going to the hospital." Audrey.

"How did you even hear her scream? I couldn't hear anything but your music in the background." All eyes on me.

"Right… So you know that I can project music, yeah? Well unlike you all, I'm used to hearing music all the time, so I have learned to hear past it. Especially with how riled up people have been lately, I was specifically listening for signs of distress."

"Oh." Nathan.

"So… What was that ripple I saw in the water? It seemed to originate from you..?" Crocker.

"That was real? You saw it? I'm not even sure what I did. I ran out of air and I panicked and then it felt like I was projected music at them but different, like 20 times louder than normal. I will have to call my Grandmother later to ask her if she knows anything." And then the ambulance drove up.

"Well time to ship you off to the hospital." Crocker.

"I get the feeling I am going to spend entirely too much time there…"

They did eventually find the family of the little girl I fished out of the river. Mother and daughter came to see me in my hospital room to thank me personally just as Duke came to pick me up. They had just been passing through when they got separated. The mother suggested she thank me some other way but I told her that I was happy to help. When the little girl found out that a shark had bitten me she became distressed. I told her that scars were like tattoos that I didn't have to pay for. I caught Duke smiling at my comment but he quickly looked away so I don't think he realized that I noticed him.


	4. Sins of the Fathers

It was a relief to finally be in good enough health to wander the woods again. During my recovery I had turned the shark teeth into a bracelet that I wore often. I also met Dwight the town's "Cleaner" as he self-identified. He's nice. So nice in fact that one day before I had fully healed, he accompanied me as I went on nature walks through old Haven Estate grounds. Grandma wanted me to document everything that had changed on the lands since she had been there about 30 years prior. On one such walk, we came across an empty shed. It seemed to have been built recently as it was well kept but it was abandoned then. I pulled out an electronic tag from my pocket and attached it to the roof just inside. Dwight was obviously curious, so I explained.

"So… What was that?" Dwight asked me.

"It's an electronic tag. My Grandmother wants me to document all the changes to the estate while she's been gone. I'll be back later to install a motion sensor and camera."

"Estate? I thought you had no history here."

"Technically I don't since I haven't ever been here. But my family actually started here. We are named from the town. My name is really Fae Navaeh Haven. I'm a part of the founding families."

"Huh. Well that explains some things."

"I don't want anyone to judge me because of it though. That's why I kept it secret."

"This is Haven, everyone has secrets. Yours seems to be pretty harmless compared to some others I know about."

"Thanks. Please don't tell anyone."

"Not my style. "

When I got home I learned that the Rev had been killed during transport to another prison.

"…Wonderful…"

When I returned to the shed a week later, Nathan and Audrey were being held at gunpoint, six or seven people with hunting rifles and what I assumed was the ghost of the Reverend and Duke Crocker were standing out front. When I approached I was closest to Audrey and Nathan but couldn't see much so I backtracked and came around to the side of Duke and the ghost of the Reverend.

"…especially since you're the one who brought him back Kyle." Audrey.

"What're you talking about?" Kyle.

"We talked to the caretaker, everyone that's come back, they have one thing in common: you dug their graves." Audrey.

"Call him. Check for yourself." Nathan. And then another ghost appeared next to Duke.

"So what? I dug a lot of graves." The second ghost spoke to Duke. Whatever the ghost said upset him.

"Reverend, tell them it's not true." Nothing. "Honey! They're wrong, I swear! Marissa. Reverend Driscoll please!"

"Sorry, can't help you Kyle. But he can. He can save your unborn child from that terrible curse." Reverend. And then someone forced Duke to take a knife in his hand, I could see that he was still coming to terms with whatever the ghost had been telling him coupled with the idea that they wanted him to murder someone.

"Please. You have to do it. You have to save my child from getting the curse, from me." Kyle.

If Duke were to kill someone then it would not have been good for his psyche. We had become friends, or at least I believed that we had, and as his friends I could not let him be dragged into something that would cause him harm. When Kyle twitched as a sign that he was about to charge Duke, I tackled him to the ground before he got the chance. Unfortunately Kyle still had the gun in his hand and we began to wrestle for control. Duke eventually pulled Kyle off of me but Kyle managed to get off a shot and I was hit in my left shoulder. With my right hand I pulled out gun from it's holster and shot him twice. Because Duke still had a hold on Kyle when Kyle was shot, some of the blood splattered onto Duke and his eyes turned silver.

"No! Now my son will not be safe." The ghosts talked a bit amongst themselves. Another one showed up just before they all vanished. After everyone was arrested, I shipped off, back to the hospital. I had called it after the shark attack when I said that I would be at the hospital far too often for my liking. Duke came to visit me after I awoke from the surgery they had induced to make sure the bullet had really passed right through.

"Why'd you jump in front of him? He could have pushed you into me. You could have been hurt or killed." Duke asked as he stood at the foot of my bed.

"In case you didn't notice, this is a hospital and we're here because I did get hurt." He looked away. "He, what I do is on me. Besides, I couldn't let you kill that guy, even if you had no intention of doing so. It would have eaten you up inside."

"How do you always seem to be around at exactly the right time?" Duke.

"Just bad luck I guess."

"Bad luck?"

"Well I keep getting injured so it's bad for me, but lucky for you because I keep saving your asses."

"I'll have you know I am usually much more useful in a fight. I'll show you one day."  
"I hope not."

"Huh?"

"Well then that would mean that you would need to be in a fight."

"Oh."

"Hey, come here." He walked to the side of the bed and I grabbed his wrist to pull him closer. "This is not your fault," I told him as I indicated to my shoulder. "I should have just shot him from my hiding place in the woods. Instead I panicked and tackled him. This is on me. Not you. No buts."

"Why?"

"I protect my people. Even if they are supposed to be badass, reformed smugglers." That got a smile out of him. "Stop beating yourself up. This kind of shit happens to me, fairly often in fact." He frowned at that. "Look, if you want to pay me back for saving your hide, come bust me out of here tomorrow after they give me the all clear. Kay?"

"Kay." Then he walked out. I wouldn't find out for a couple days why he had never showed. In the end I walked home, thankfully it's a small town.


	5. Stay & The Farmer

I was still recovering from the bullet wound in my shoulder when the rabid dogs turned barbarians ran through the town, but I was able to help by using my trouble to keep regular and rabid people alike calm until the police could show up to capture the strays. On the next case I was specifically asked along, but I still believe that Duke only did it so that he could keep an eye on me. When we caught up the man with the "demon tongue" as the new detective, Tommy Bowen, had sarcastically called him, Audrey tried to order me away like she did with Nathan and Tommy but I wouldn't listen. When Audrey and Duke got into an argument because she had asked him to use his trouble to end the "demon tongue" trouble, they had walked a few feet away from the body. I kept eye contact to make sure he didn't somehow slip away again. After their argument, Duke walked off in one direction while Audrey walked in another. After about a minute though, Duke returned.

"Fae, leave."

"Not a chance."

"I don't want you to see this."

"Then I won't look, but I'm not leaving you here alone to deal with this."

"You're too good for this town."

"That's a matter of opinion." Then I turned so that I couldn't see what Duke was about to do and projected music throughout the forest to make it more private. I watched the family just outside the woods to make sure we weren't disturbed. He didn't know then, but he and I were the only ones who heard the music I projected. It was my gift to him.


	6. Real Estate

On Halloween, Vince and Dave threw a rather lame costume party. Duke, Claire, and Audrey had been there with me before I went to the bathroom, but when I came out they were all gone. At some point in the night both Vince and Dave also snuck out, which left me to host their party. I believe my Grandmother would be proud. Although, apparently I missed out on a "fun" night in a legitimately haunted house. I was later told that there was also a new someone in Nathan's life, a woman named Jordan who's trouble caused unbearable pain to any who touched her.


	7. Burned

One sunny afternoon, when I arrived early at the Gull for a shift that evening I found Duke giving a pirate show to a little girl. For fear of giving myself away I stayed in my vehicle. I remember wishing that I had a camera, but it didn't last long. All of a sudden Nathan and Audrey were running onto the Gull's porch – Audrey ran to and grabbed the girl so she couldn't escape while Nathan ran up to the second floor to try to grab Duke before he fell, Nathan did not succeed. Duke fell off the second floor balcony flat onto his back. After I got out of the car I stood back to try to analyze the situation.

"Let me go!" the girl shouted.

"Ginger stop! You're hurting people. You've hurt Duke." Audrey.

"I didn't do anything. We were just playing. Duke's fine – you're fine Duke!" Duke had remained on his back until that point, and then he tried to get up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." To which he fell over onto a chair. At least the second landing was softer than the first.

While Audrey took the girl, apparently named Ginger, to sit down at a table and chat, I offered to drive Duke to the hospital since I clearly didn't know what had happened already. Halfway to the hospital Duke woke up, but I bullied him into at least getting checked before I would drive him back to the Gull. That day I finally got to meet the infamous Jordan that Nathan had previously been so enamored with, well before Jordan tried to kidnap Ginger. When I arrived back at the Gull with Duke, Jordan was in handcuffs and seated at a table in the center of the room. Ginger used her trouble to force Jordan to answer her questions. When it started to get too heavy for the girl Audrey sent her upstairs; I followed her.

"Who are you?" Ginger asked me.

"My name is Fae. I am a friend of Duke."

"Why are you up here?"

"Don't you mean, 'Why aren't you down there with them'?" She nodded. "I wanted to test something. And I thought you might want some company."

"Okay…"

"I want to see if you can command me like you did to Duke." She started to look sad. "I know Audrey probably told you that it was bad to control people like that. She's not wrong, but I am asking you to, so you won't get in any trouble."

"What should I make you do?"

"It doesn't matter, just something simple… Tell me to spin around once."

"Spin around." Nothing happened. "Why didn't you spin?"

"Guess I'm special… Do you know how to play the piano?"

"No."

"Well then come here and I will teach you a song." I taught her Twinkle Twinkle Little Star completely before the Trio came to get us and go to find her father.

While Duke brought Ginger into the Guard's safe house, I waited outside next to the car. I was the look out in case more Guard cronies came up the driveway. When two cronies left the house, I almost shot them, but at the last second I saw that one was handcuffed so I let them go. I didn't have my bike so I couldn't follow them to see if they would lead me to another Guard safe house unfortunately. I ran inside after they had driven down the driveway to make sure than everyone was alright. It was decided after we left that Duke would use some of his connections to find the family a new, safer place to stay until the troubles were over.

A couple days later, the usual suspects were all called to a meeting at some processing plant that had seen better days. I walked in last, taking in every detail of the place.

"This is a need to know crime scene." Nathan.

"And what exactly do we all need to know?" Vince.

"The uh, creepy coroner guy outside said we were on the list." Duke. "Oh…"

"Our paper gets the exclusive right?" Dave.

"This isn't about a story or volunteer cops." Nathan.

"It's about the bolt-gun killer. Tommy Bowen." Audrey. A skin "suit" was shown to the room.

"Oh my god, that's his… I thought Tommy was the bolt-gun killer." Vince.

"So did we. The real Tommy was murdered and skinned several weeks ago. The real killer assumed his identity." Nathan.

"There's a…skin-walker in Haven?" Dave.

"So where is he?" Duke.

"Who is he?" Vince.

"We don't know. He escaped. But we have an idea on a way to find him." Nathan.

"The thing is, Tommy made a series of rookie mistakes. I hardly noticed them at first but when you add them all up there's no way he could be a trained cop." Audrey.

"I would just like you to know: I told you, I told you so." Duke.

"The skin-walker sounds and looks like his victims, but he doesn't know what they know." Audrey.

"It's a performance. He can steal their voice, their appearance, but he can't steal their mind." Nathan.

"So we catch him using secrets, memories, it would be like a test?" Claire.

"Well hot damn kids, sounds like one hell of a plan. When do we start?" Duke.

"I already have. The killer picked someone who was already in our circle." Audrey.

"We know he's looking for information on Audrey and the Colorado Kid." Nathan.

"He's been with us the whole time and I bet he still is." Audrey.

"What are you saying?" Claire.

"When we're done here, I need you all to go down to the station. One of us could be the skin-walker." Audrey.

"Including you." Duke.

"We're all suspects." Audrey. Just then, a dog barked outside. Nathan said something I didn't catch before he and Audrey left us alone to our thoughts.

Slowly but as a group we left the processing plant and headed to the station. When Audrey and Nathan returned to the station, Audrey took Claire in first. Second was me. I passed easily by using my trouble to project music directly into their heads. I had been working on this technique for weeks as well as to try to recognize individuals based on the music inside of them. Every person has a unique sound to them and I had been trying to master it for the past week, I originally used patrons at the Gull and was caught by Claire a week ago. She volunteered to help me master it. But when I projected into Claire at the station and listened to her sound, it was drastically different than it had been the week before. I thought it was probably just because she now had to help Audrey search for a skin-walker among our friends and wrote it off.

Then they called in Duke. I did my best to keep everyone calm and played a relaxing melody while everyone waited. After Duke slammed the interview room door on his way out, I caught his eye. He just batted his hand back at the door, downcast his eyes and let out a huff before stomping off and out of the station. Next was Nathan. His interview was just as long as Duke's, but he came out looking much less distressed than had Duke. In fact he looked quite pleased. The final interview was for the Teague brothers together. When they were called I stopped the music since I had no one to play for. After the brothers left as well I waited to chat with Audrey and Claire; they were concerned that the skin-walker hadn't been among the friends or that maybe it had slipped by. I suggested that whatever had happened, we should be thankful that, for the moment, no one we cared about had died. That night I had to sing at the Gull so I left them earlier than I wanted but they promised to come to the show later.

The next day, again all the likely suspects were called to a meeting but this time at the station, all except one.

"When we discovered the skin-walker was stealing parts of women's faces, we started a computer program to piece together what it would look like if the parts were assembled. Now that we just got the final ID of the women buried at the cannery-" Nathan.

"-we can finally get a picture of who the skin-walker's been building." Dave.

"Scuse me. Umm, why isn't Claire here for this?" Duke.

"Claire…Claire's dead." Audrey.

"Skin-walker took her." Nathan.

"When? When did the skin-walker take her?" Me.

"A couple days ago. Why?" Audrey.

"I have been developing a way to identify a person based on their soul's sound. Each person's is different, is unique, but it can change. In the interview, I thought Claire's sound had changed because of stress so I didn't say anything, but if she was the skin-walker yesterday… I will be able to identify that sound if I ever hear it again."

"We need to get that son of a bitch." Duke.

"We will." Audrey.

"And it's gonna pay." Dwight.

"Graph's almost finished." Nathan said just before it enhanced itself.

"That's impossible. Arla Cogan?" Audrey.

"Who?" Dwight.

"No, it can't be." Duke.

"When Duke and I were in Colorado, we found out that James Cogan was married." Audrey.

"The skin-walker is building your son's wife." Nathan.

"Well I'm sure that'll be creepy: all sewn together." Me.

"Why would the skin-walker wanna look like James Cogan's wife?" Nathan.

"Maybe it always was her. After James died, no one in Colorado ever saw Arla again." Duke.

"Maybe she came to Haven with James and never left." Nathan.

"We'll go through the archives." Dave.

"See if there were any women skinned 27 years ago." Vince.

"See if some of your business connections might know something." Nathan to Duke.

"They just might. Spread the word." Duke said before he left.

"The skin-walker has the answers. So we need to find her before…" Nathan.

"Before I disappear for 27 years. Well, this will be a mighty cold case by then so we better wrap it up. And please, we've seen what she's capable of doing so just, be careful." Audrey. Meeting over, Dwight followed me out.

"I assume they still don't know your family's history." Dwight.

"No. But that doesn't mean I won't use it. I'm calling my Grandmother as soon as I get home."

"Good."

"Don't worry. I'll let them know everything if I find anything." He nodded to me before we went our separate ways. Unfortunately, my Grandmother wasn't very helpful.


	8. Thanks for the Memories

The night of the Hunter meteor storm I thought it was best to not work so that I could ensure a good, full, night's sleep before the impending "barn hunt" that was sure to occur the following morning. As an added bonus I didn't have to watch, what I'm sure was a very touching triangle love story unfold between Duke, Audrey and Nathan. While I set out clothing for the adventure and got my supplies packed I thought about what I would do if Audrey did or did not disappear the next day. I fell asleep going over 'what ifs'.

I woke to a call from Nathan.

"Arla took Audrey." Suddenly Duke took the phone. "Arla stole my boat. Can we use yours?"

"Of course, I'll meet you there." Instead of the jeans I had planned, I put on camo pants and a black tee. I grabbed my supplies, put on my holster and barely remembered to lock my door in my rush to get to the Docks. No one spoke except to tell me where to direct my boat. When we got to the island, the two men ran off like they had directions. Halfway up a hill Duke called out for her and she responded.

"How did you get here?" Audrey.

"That would be me."

"Where's Arla?" Duke.

"She's gone, but Howard- the barn is gone. I gotta find Arla. She has my son." Audrey said just before a meteor went across the sky and crashed into the lighthouse.

"Um I'm sure that it's me but I thought the meteors are supposed to pass over Haven… Why is it hitting us?" Duke.

"Because I won't go into the barn. And they're gonna come faster and faster until I find my son and he tells us how to stop this." Audrey.

When we returned to the mainland we stopped by Haven Joe's Bakery based on a tip from Audrey. Audrey and Nathan split off to go check hospitals while Duke and I went to the Docks to see if any boats had been taken. I tried to not show Duke that I could tell he was in love with and worried about Audrey. He still seemed like he hadn't fully admitted it to himself yet. At some point Duke stepped away to make a call. When he came back he told me that he had contacted Arla and had a plan to get James to Audrey. I "borrowed" a boat from the Docks to take Nathan, Audrey and I back to the island while Duke waited at my boat for Arla to bring James. Nathan and Audrey waited behind the barn for Duke to arrive and I snuck off to hide in a tree as a look out.

It's amazing how quickly those three forgot that I was supposed to be there as well but it's for the best, they tend to need saving. After Duke and Arla brought a very sick James to the barn, Audrey and Nathan confronted them. In the commotion, no one was able to stop James before he got inside the barn. After what was, I'm sure, a touching moment of loyalty, Nathan and Audrey entered the barn and left Duke outside to watch Arla.

Because it wasn't stressful enough what with meteors falling from the sky and all, Guard cronies with machine guns fanned out from behind the barn, quickly surrounding the two. Jordan appeared to be leading them and all her focus was on Duke.

Silently I dropped down from my tree and switched the bullet clip I had had in the guns with a tranquilizer clip. I took out half the group before they noticed me. Slowly with my arms raised I joined Duke and Arla.

"I just want to normal again. I'd think you would want that." Jordan to Duke.

"He'd rather have Audrey." Arla.

"I told you. Shut. Up." He turned to look at her to better make his point and finally registered that I was also there.

"Both you and Nathan, in love with a woman you can never have. It's almost sad." Then Jordan turned to me just as I pointed a gun at her. "And you, you're in love with him (indicating Duke) aren't you?" Duke looked at me in shock.

"Eh, shit happens."

"I see what you did there. You should join us. We could use your skills. What's your trouble?" Jordan to me.

"I'm fine where I'm at thanks, not all of us have to play the jealous bitch." Her lip twitched but I continued. "What makes you think I even have a trouble?"

"It's Haven."

"Fair enough. I'm a Muse of Music and I've learned more in the last 2 months than in the last 6 years. If you even want to experience something similar to what your trouble does to people, don't hesitate to give me a call."

"Shall we give it a try then?"

"Awesome." And then I pulsed her. She fell to the ground screaming and clutching her head. I smirked, Duke stared. Before I decided whether or not to do anything else, Vince came.

"Vince? Get out of here before you get hurt." Duke.

"Take your men and go." Vince to a guy next to Jordan.

"But-"

"Guns are not gonna solve this Kirk. Go home."

"Yes sir." Jordan recovered just then.

"What!? Why are you listening to him?" Jordan to Kirk.

"Cause he's the boss. We're leaving." Kirk to the rest of the team.

"You!" Then she ripped off a glove like she was going to intentionally use her trouble on someone, so I punched her. Suddenly I was wonderfully glad to have been wearing fingerless gloves.

"You're in the Guard." Duke. Dave and Dwight came as well. Vince pulled up his sleeve to show us the magically reappearing maze tattoo of Duke's nightmares.

"They work for me. Always have." Vince.

"That explains a few things." Dwight. Jordan had put herself together and walked over.

"Vince, please, you're going to make sure Audrey goes away right?" Jordan.

"It'll be her choice." Vince.

"I've lost too much, I won't let it all be for nothing." Jordan.

"Leave now Jordan." Vince.

"So what does this mean for us Vince?" Duke. "That tattoo-"

"I'm not going to kill you Duke." Vince.

"I appreciate that." Duke.

"In fact, I'm the reason the others never went after you. And believe me, they wanted to." Vince. Then Audrey came out just long enough to take Arla in with her.

When Nathan came out holding a blonde woman in his arms, we all assumed it was Audrey and pleasantly surprised when it wasn't. Nathan filled us in about what had happened inside while we waited. When Audrey returned a black man in a suit followed her.

"He was wrong." I heard Audrey tell Nathan. "Killing him. It won't work." Then she walked over to Dwight and apologized about the mess. Followed were the Teague brothers, then me.

"I'm not sure what to say." Audrey.

"It's alright. I'll try to keep everyone out of trouble while you're gone. I have a present for you before you leave." I grabbed her into a hug and touched our foreheads. I focused on her sound and then projected it back at her so that she could hear it. She stumbled but I held her until it began to loop.

"It's beautiful." Audrey.

"It's yours. That's your soul's sound."

She looked alarmed. "How did you?"

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that I'll play it for you again when you return. And I promise that I will fill you in about everything so you don't have to do this run-around again."

"Thanks. You're always so helpful and good to everyone here."

"I try. I, Fae Navaeh Haven wish you safe travels in your creepy magic barn. Now, go tell the boys you love them. I'll see you later." I blatantly refused to watch as she interacted with Duke and Nathan, so when Dwight, Dave, and Vince started to leave, I followed them slowly. When I looked back, Audrey was handing Nathan's gun to Duke. Duke held off Nathan until Audrey reached the barn door and then Nathan managed to push past. He didn't make it to the door before it shut him out. The black man in a suit was still outside though.

"I thought it was made very clear, that won't work on the barn." The man said to Nathan.

"That was made clear, but what about hurting you?" Nathan pointed the gun at the man just as Jordan shot Nathan in the back. Clearly Nathan still couldn't feel, he had to turn to check that he was shot. Not caring, he shot the man. Jordan shot him. Duke caught Nathan as he fell and shot Jordan. I raced back up the hill.

Holes of white began to appear in the man and barn alike. All of a sudden the man disappeared but the barn was still disintegrating, like it was being slowly pulled into a white vortex. Arla's body, which had been laid against the barn, was sucked in through a white hole.

"Get her Duke. Go. Save her." Nathan.

The last I saw of Duke was him screaming her name as he dived head first into the vortex right before it disappeared completely. I came out of my shock first and, with a little help from Dwight who I had to call back, we managed to coax Nathan back to the mainland. It would be a long time before we could trust him to function properly and take care of himself again.


	9. End Season 3 - Epilogue

It came as no surprise when Nathan quit as the Chief of Police. It did surprise however, when he nominated Dwight to fill the position. Since no one else wanted the job it was an easy win. As soon as Dwight was hired officially, he hired me to help him as a detective. Although I had no formal training, he appreciated that my trouble could be used to calm or disable possible threats. After one case in the beginning, he'd commented that I could probably calm an ocean storm if I ever really wanted to.

When I informed my Grandmother of all that had happened she demanded that I immediately return to her Estate in Virginia, to which I refused. When she couldn't entice or threaten me into leaving, she conceded and sent me a squad of her personal security to protect me. She's old money – she's paranoid like that.

Two months after Duke and Audrey disappeared, I had my family's Estate house rebuilt. I changed the layout somewhat and added a safe room in the basement. Dwight and I frequently used it to house troubled persons that were hiding from the Guard. The private security team that Grandmother sent me became the new "cleaners" since Dwight had been promoted to actual police.

The troubles didn't stop, they didn't lessen at all. They got worse. Vince seemed to be losing control of his cronies, they were trying to run the town and they weren't making it any easier for us to try to keep it safe. Nathan had been lost to us after a month. He was still alive, but never around, and not mentally stable when he was. Duke's half-brother arrived after a month to claim the Grey Gull. We had to legally announce that he was dead even though we didn't believe it. With help from my Grandmother I acquired the original lease to the land the Gull was on and used my leverage as his new landlord to keep everything as Duke and Audrey had left it. I made sure every weekend to sing at the Gull. The regulars said that they only came to hear me sing. With the town gone to hell, or damn close, my troubled singing lifted their spirits enough to continue living here. With the help of Vince and Jordan's "pulse" experience, I made sure that the madness never reached the Gull.

Clearly something had gone wrong with Audrey and the barn. Maybe it had ejected her, maybe that was why the troubles remained. I could only hope that Duke had been ejected with her. All anyone had was hope.


End file.
